When the boiler packed in for a third time, I knew we had to escape the arctic weather in London. We took a short trip to the small Portuguese island of Madeira.

It’s not too far. The weather is great – even in December. Plenty to see, and it’s all relatively close by. Great seafood and pastries. Lovely people. Also, really well-lit streets which is a bonus at night.

If you look hard enough you will find Halal food in Madeira. There are a couple of places in Funchal. Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant, some of the best curry I’ve ever had, let alone in Portugal. The other place we went for a snack was Shish kebab, it’s basically GDK. Apart from that, you’ll find plenty of places serving brunch, pasta, pizza, fish and failing that, there’s always a Filet-O-Fish at McDonalds!

We stayed in Funchal for 4 days and had a really nice time. I dusted off my camera and took some pictures of our trip: